Striking mechanisms for bells



Marsh 1, 1932. 5 B MERRlLL 1,848,020

STRIKING MECHANISMS FOR BELLS Filed March 18, 1951 ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 1, 1932 UNITED STATES.

SIDNEY 1 3. MERRILL, or cmcimm rnomo, assrenoe trornn 31w; vANnUzEn cou-v PANY, oF orn'orNNA'rr, QHIO, A conroRfATIoNoronIo' a *s'rmkme medium s Fort teens Application tree March 1s,'1'93 1. Se a; 523,599;

- In bells for ordinary purposes, whichare caused to ring by a -semi-rotation about. an

. cable to control with exactness the are through axis, and which have an interiorly pivoted clapper or striking mechanism, it has long been realized that some mea'nszfor controlling the actionvof the clapperis highly desirable. The best performance is secured from the bell 7 when the clapper strikesit'asharp, clean blow,

and then is immediately 'removedfrom contact with the 'bell itself, so thatztheclapper neither dampens the sound of the bell by lying againstthe strike or thickened portion thereof, nor produces a disagreeable noise. by "vibrating against the .bell surface. It is'also highly desirable to avoid a second or after blow of the clapper-againsttheibell surface. These considerations become of particular importance, sinceit is generally not practiwhich the bell swings. I

Hitherto, it has; been proposed to control the striking of the clapper by means ofla'pair of. leaf springs, one lyingon either {side of V .theclapper, directly.inits' path of movement in striking the bell. 'This method of control has been relatively successful, but it has'cert'ain inherent defects which it is the primary I object of my present inventionlto overcome. In the said structure'when; the clapper contacts with the 'leaf spring initially, agooddeal of the energy iszabsorb'e'd. Theback pressure of the leaf spring, of, course, increases as it flexes; but the spring mustbe very carefullyadjusted to the weightofthe; clap'perif advantageous results are to be secured. If the spring istoo lightit: may notimm'ediately remove the; clapper from the surface of the strike, and not; infrequently it; permits an after blow If the spring is too strong, the energy of the stroke is largely dissipated, and the full, clear volume of the bell isnot realized. The balancing of the several features is an extremely delicate operation, and it has in general been found necessary with such controlling mechanisms to employqa fairly stiif gaglng spring and a very: heavy clappen Aln of myminvention, therefore," is to provide sarily quite severe, for which' reason .itis likely to be progressively distortedby the continued ringing of the bell, so that the predetermined adjustments tend to -become'-destroyed. Still another object of my invention,

therefore, is the provision ofvmeans for controlling the action of the clapper in a bell,

which means are notiliable'tocomeout of .adjustment,nbut which are easily proporexert a 'controlledpressure upon the.

tioned to clapper.

These and other objects ofmy' invention which will beset forth' liereinafter or willbe. V v apparent-to oneskilled in theartuponreading these specifications, 1 accomplish by that certain: construction and arrangement of parts of whichI' shall now describea preferred embodiment, reference being had, to

the drawings, -in which: r

F-igure 1 is a sectional View of the'bell showing a side elevation of myv controlling mechanism. Fig.2 1s a fragmentary view showlngmy I controlling mechanism, in end elevation.

- '"In .Fig. .lvl have indicated a belly at 1, hav

ing any adequate top plate or portion 2 adapted to be fastened to or to be; grasped by suspended means, including the regular. yoke.

The member2 has a. flange plate 2a adapted to'contactzthe top of the bell, andbeneath this, located essentiallywithin the bell, there is a memberl3, having a, flange plate 3a, en-

and nuts 5.

' The construction hereinabove just described beneath the top of ,thebell. -,The v membersfZ and 3 are heldtogether by bolts a to q liniconnecti n withathesefeatures of -nec l essary adjustment, it may also be pointed out. I that the flexing of 'thec'leafspring is neces-= end the stroke.

tured, but is not a limitation upon my invention, my invention being applicable to bells otherwise constructed. A clapper 6, having an enlarged striking portion 7 is fitted with a bearing member 8, by which it may be pivoted upon a pin 9, which passes through ears 10, usually a part of the member 3. The motion of the clapper about its pivot is thus restricted to a plane transverse to the pin 9, and the bell is so hung upon its yoke as to produce motion in this plane when the bell is rocked back and forth. Rigidly attached'to the top of the bell, as by being riveted, welded, or otherwise fastened to the ear 10, upon th'e'member 3, I provide an arm'll, which extends downwardly along side of and usually in substantial parallelism with the. shank of the clapper 6 when the bell is hanging straight This arm isof less length than downwardly. the clapper, and it may be provided at its lower end with a perforation or eye. 12, to which aspring controlling mechanism, hereinafter to. be described, may beattached. I also provide my clapper with an eye 13, preferably cast integrally therewith, to which the controlling device, which has proved entirely adequate in operation. The spring 14: will, of course, be proportioned in the forcenecessary to stretch it to the weight ofthe clapper 6, and it is not difficult to select for an individual'clapper a coil spring of such'strength as will adequately control its movement. A wide variety of springs and clappers may be employed,- and. in general I have been able,

in accordance withrmy invention, to produce a clearer and more perfect ringing of a given bell with a lighter clapper thanit has been possible to use heretofore. When the clapper is at rest,-as shownin full. lines in Fig. 1,

I prefer to leave my spring 14 slack. The clapper is thus free at the commencement of the stroke, andlthe pull on the clapper is substantially transverseto its movement. at the The back force is thus applied somewhat before the clapper swings into striking position and is atia maximum when'the clapper lies in the positions shown in the dotted lines in Fig. 1, but the force applied is regular and powerful, and the spring member itself has substantially no momentumwhich need be considered in controlling the actionof the clapper. Thus my device, while it permits a clear, sharp blow, nevertheless entirely prevents either a resting of the clapper against the bell surface, and

vibration of the clapper in connection with the surface, or an after stroke; nor is it possible for my device to get out of adjustment, since the resistance applied is not dependent upon the configuration of members which are caused to follow the clapper and are bent into new configurations by its movement. My spring 1 1 retains a constant potential force, and so long as this remains constant the control of the clapper is very accurate, quite irrespective of the arc throughwhich the bell is swung.

My device compensates for wear upon the surface of the, clapper and the bell. It is simple and cheap in construction, and easily replaced 'or repaired. In use, it has been foundto. improve the effective tone of the bell'by enforcing a quick, sharp blow, with no hesitation :upon the surface of the bell.

It willbeunderstood that modifications may be madein'my inventioniwithout departing fromthe spirit thereof, and also that one or more of my devices maybe used in a single bell.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a controlling device for bells, a clapper pivoted to swing and strike said bell, a

member fixed relatively to the top of said bell, and tension'means connectingsaid member and said'clapper below the pivotal point of the clapper.

2. In a controlling device for bells, a clapper pivoted to swing in substantially a single plane and strike said bell, an arm fixed relative to'the-top of said bell andextending within'said bell in substantial parallelism with the axis thereof, and spring tension means connecting said clapper and said armv below the pivotal point of the clapper.

3, In a controlling device for bells, a-clapper pivoted to swing in substantially a single plane and strike said bell, an arm fixed relatively to the top of saidbell and extend-' -ing within said bell in general parallelism with the axis thereof, but offset from the plane of movement of said clapper, and a coil spring connecting said arm and said clapper below the pivotal point of the clapper.

4. In a-controlling device for bells, a clapper pivoted'to swingin substantially a single plane and. strike said bell, an arm fixed relative to thetop of said bell and extending within said bell in substantial parallellism with the axis thereof, and tension means connecting the endof said arm and said clapper below the pivotal point of the clapper, said means comprising a coil spring.

5. In a controlling device for bells, a clapper pivoted to swing inv substantially a single plane and strike said bell, an arm fixed relative to the top of said bell and extending within 'said bell in substantial parallelism with the axis thereof, and tension means cong 10 the upper part of the bell whereon said clap- I vsion to said clapper, below said pivotal per swings to strike lower parts of the bell,

, a downward'extension from the top of the 1 bell, substantially fixed relatively to the'bell,

and a resilientrconnection from said exten-' i mounting, adapted to'resist the motion of the clapper as it strikes the bell;

I SIDNEYB. MERRILL. 

